German central bank chief warns against excessive pessimism

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany's central bank is warning against taking an overly pessimistic view of the economy, days after the bank cautioned that Europe's biggest economy could enter a recession in the current quarter.

Jens Weidmann, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, talks as he visits a cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany. The head of Germany’s central bank is warning against taking an overly pessimistic view of the economic outlook, days after the bank cautioned that the country’s economy, Europe’s biggest, could enter a recession in the current quarter.

August 25, 2019

The German economy contracted by 0.1% in the April-June period and the central bank, the Bundesbank, said Sunday that it "could decline slightly" again in the summer. But Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that he sees "no reason to panic."

He noted that Germany is coming off a long upswing with record employment and said "the outlook is particularly uncertain at the moment," citing political factors such as Brexit and international trade conflicts.

He added that the response shouldn't be pessimism or taking action for the sake of it.